Are We Out of the Pandemic? Here’s What Dr. Fauci Says
brutal winter Omicron surge, he was describing what appears to be a period of transition toward the coronavirus becoming an endemic disease.
“The world is still in a pandemic. There’s no doubt about that. Don’t anybody get any misinterpretation of that. We are still experiencing a pandemic,” Dr. Fauci told the Post.
Dr. Fauci also stressed that COVID in the U.S. doesn’t necessarily reflect the rest of the world.
“Pandemic means a widespread, throughout the world infection that spreads rapidly among people,” Dr. Fauci adds. “So, if you look at the global situation, there is no doubt this pandemic is still ongoing.”
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Life beyond COVID
Health authorities are now wrestling with how to keep COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations manageable and as well as how to live with what’s still a mutating and unpredictable virus.
Some health officials have been making subtle shifts, such as returning some focus to non-COVID areas, such as maternal health, childhood immunizations, tuberculosis, HIV and other public health concerns, according to Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
“I think there are subtle shifts being made at the local level health departments to normalize the pandemic response in a way that allows them to get back to the core work of their public health departments,” Freeman says. “But those words that were used about the pandemic ending are not well circulated in the public health area right now.”
Pandemic or not, the best way to protect yourself is to get vaccinated and boosted, social distance when necessary and wear a mask in large crowds.